If you have been following the long trail of Marvel comic book hero films: Ironman (2008, 2010) , the Hulk (2008), Captain America (2011), and Thor (2011) – The Avengers is what you’ve been waiting for.

The heroes whose back stories you’ve seen in the movies and if you are of the right generation, read in the comic books of our youth, come together to … well, take a guess. Let’s not always see the same hands. You, in the back! You’re right! A gold star to you.

They are going to save the world and these are the superheroes to do it. All of the names and faces are familiar from the previous movies, with the exception of a new Hulk who is just what the doctor ordered.

This is the first fully realized not-so-jolly green giant. He isn’t selling vegetables, nor is he — as the Hulk — the mindless muscle of earlier versions. He is closer to the comic book Hulk who retained enough front brain information to make him more than the personification of blunt-force trauma. He is believable, or as believable as Hulk is ever likely to be.

Of course the movie has first-rate computer generated graphics, effects, and top-quality soundtrack. We would expect nothing less from this team. There’s more than enough of every kind of violence, explosions, lightning, weird machines from outer space, inexplicable magic and power by good guys and bad guys alike to entertain anyone who is willing to let allow him or herself to be entertained. Prune-faced over-intellectualized spoil-sports are welcome to find something else to do.

To sum it all up in a nutshell, the bad guys come through a hole in the universe and the Avengers, all incredibly handsome, brilliant heroes protect we the little people of Earth from total destruction and domination by the Evilest Empire ever seen. If that were all, it would be enough, but The Avengers is more than violence and special effects.

The Avengers each have a unique back story. They have definable character, much of  which you’ve glimpsed in the movies leading up to this one. They have distinct personalities. They are funny and witty enough to bring humor in the midst of mayhem.

The script is crisp, the actors can act (whoa, how did that happen? That never happens!) and it all comes together in a very satisfying action movie that is perhaps the quintessential superhero movie to date. They did it right and you can see and feel that this is far better than  just another comic book hero movie. This movie leaves you wanting more.

And more we shall get. As long as we gobble up whatever this franchise cranks out and it continues to be enormously profitable, we will have more.  There are at least 2 more “sequels” scheduled for production during 2013  and 2014. I expect that’s the tip of a very large iceberg.

Although it remains to be seen if the producers can keep the group together and retain the quality they’ve so far produced, but there’s no reason to assume that they can’t and won’t. They’ve found a winning combination: intelligent action heroes fighting life and death battles and not behaving like mindless morons. Good scripts, good actors, top-quality CGI.

Marvel has figured it out. What is surprising to me is that so many studios have not put it together the equation that will give them a hit every single time. Pretty simple. Good actors, good technical crew, good script, good director, interesting (and fun!) story. It a box office guarantee …  the winning combination. Any producer could apply it. So why don’t they do it?

Movies need not be stupid or dull. Heads up Hollywood. Put the entertainment back into the entertainment industry!